Lee Six Cavity Mould Handle, first ever problem.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I am pleased to say that I have been using a significant amount of Lee equipment for many years and apart from a 44Mag AutoPrime Shellholder that a piece broke off after a few years, I have never had a problem.

I have bought many 6 cavity group buy moulds her and am happy with all of them (one does throw an immensily fat boolit, but the buy was for a fatter boolit). One of the first,if not the first GB mould I bought,never got used, which is strange.

I lent it to a friend, who broke it in, etc. He is an extremely experienced caster and a very competent, careful man. After getting the mould working well, he cast about a hundred boolits and the handle broke clean off. He was horrified of course (these things always happen with other people's stuff,lol.

Anyway he welded it up and said that he would buy a six cavity mould (he has never used more than a double,he is hooked!) and give me the new handle. Not necessary I told him, I wouldmuch prefer my hanlle with bush welding character!

Am I upset? Not at all, just one of those things. Lee's record with me is excellent. Here is a pic of the repaired handle;

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/Reloading%20and%20Casting/20121031_RepairedHandle.jpg

[oneokie]

The sprue cutter handle seems to be the weakest part of the Lee 6 cavity moulds by the number of posts about them breaking.

Member Red River Rick makes a steel replacement handle.

[Wayne Smith]

With that repair it's probably better than the original!

[ShootNSteel]

I agree, most Lee equipment I have used is very acceptable for the price, and service is excellent. I recently had a handle failure myself on a handle that I had bought about a year ago. The handle had a crack in it at the machining for the pivot area and broke clean on the first pour. I called lee and they promptly sent me a new handle with no questions asked.

[Springfield]

Pre-heat the mould and cut the sprue sooner and the handles won't break. I cast a few thousand bullets a week using the LEE 6 cav, and I haven't ever broken a handle in the 6 years I have been using them. I have even answered the phone and let the mould cool, and am still able to cut the sprue, just have to be careful.

[D Crockett]

I broke one or two of them and the reason is they were not closed all the way if that happends and you catch it in time just put a flat head screwdriver under it and that will take up the slack in the handle and let it work right D Crockett

[Cowboy T]

I broke one or two of them and the reason is they were not closed all the way if that happends and you catch it in time just put a flat head screwdriver under it and that will take up the slack in the handle and let it work right D Crockett

Happened to me, too. The screwdriver trick works. Fortunately, Lee sent me a couple of 'em, and I've been more careful about closing it all the way since. So far, so good.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I have four sets of handles from Red River Rick. They are a work of art and an absolute joy to use. If I was a squillionaire, I would have all my moulds fitted with his handles!

I must order a couple of the sprue cutter handles. Working in tandem with his handles they should transform the moulds.

[MT Chambers]

Lee die components are made of a proprietary space age alloy, formerly termed "pot metal".

[Jeff82]

I broke a Lee handle, but I agree that for the money Lee equipment is excellent. I use a lot of it.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Lee die components are made of a proprietary space age alloy, formerly termed "pot metal".

Some of their non stressed stuff is pretty cheesy alloy, but strong enough for the job as a rule. Their dies are good metal though, my 9mm, 38, 38Super, 44M, 45ACP and 45 Colt dies have loaded thousands of rounds of non lubricated cases over many years and are still as good as new. I have found that their dies are as good as any, but less than half the price.

[Four Fingers of Death]

They don't have bragging rights like Reddings, Lymans and RCBS, etc dies I suppose. I own them all and there is really not much between them.

[Sheldon]

The advice I got here when I broke mine was to get the mold up to temp. I don't do the hot plate routine, but use the method of filling just one of the cavities for a few tries and then progressively more to give the mold time to get up to temp that way. Hasn't failed since. I do like the look of the Red River steel ones!!

[Four Fingers of Death]

The advice I got here when I broke mine was to get the mold up to temp. I don't do the hot plate routine, but use the method of filling just one of the cavities for a few tries and then progressively more to give the mold time to get up to temp that way. Hasn't failed since. I do like the look of the Red River steel ones!!

I neglected to warn my friend, but he is pretty experienced and he worked that method out for himself (after he repaired the mould, lol).

[snuffy]

I didn't do this, I lent the mold to a buddy. I even told him to make sure the mold was hot before pouring all six cavities;

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/bullets/websize/PA240099.JPG

I sent an email to lee with that pic as an attachment with my snail mail addy. They replied the next day, 2 cams are in the mail!

That is a sintered steel part. Powdered metal crammed together under tremendous force. After getting the replacements and replacing that one, I took the broke one to work, welded it up with a mig welder. If I ever break another, I'll try the welded onr to see if it's strong enough.

[williamwaco]

1) Don't ever try to use the cam to cut cold sprues. It is smiply not strong enough.

2) Cut those sprues as soon as they get firm.

The good news is that they will replace it in about three days, ( Don't ask me how I know.)

[Four Fingers of Death]

I wonder how we'd go getting a replacement in Australia? RCBS are pretty cool apparently, I bought an RCBS Ammomaster Progressive Press off my mate. He showed me the phone number in the States on the back of the manual and told me that if I ever broke a part to ring RCBS in the States and they would ship out the part. Pretty impressive. I normally don't bother with warranty caims on guns, just get them fixed locally and pay for it, quicker and easier I have found.

If I ever break another, I will try and get a replacement just to see. I have at least 10 Lee 6 cavity moulds, so I'm not going to get caught out, lol.

[Jon]

I've done that too. It's easy to miss the plate not being closed quite all the way. So Lee will send replacements for free?